It has begun.

Boy it sure was a slow start to the season but with how long that winter had been it wasn't too shocking. Even with the cool spring, precipitation and lack of sunlight we were able to achieve some pretty good success with seeding 10 green. Whenever you have winter damage to that extent you have to know it's going to be a long road to recovery. We slit seeded and dimple seeded again on May 17 & 18 to get some more grass into the "gaps". When the green is finally ready for play it may still be a little bumpy and slower than the others but won't be far behind. The main message though is that the green will be what we remember it to be in time. Look how far we have come with little help from mother nature.


With regards to the other greens, the speed will come and so will a smoother surface. The late season deep tine aerification is one of the main culprits with regards to how bumpy they are. Thar is only one of the many reasons why we really should be doing this earlier in the season. A solid top dressing will take care of that and improve things exponentially.

I can remember during my interview for the Superintendents position here, one of the questions that was asked to me is "do you have any goals during your time here?" One of them was to have our golf course recognized by becoming certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Idylwylde Golf and Country Club is a proud member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, created and administered by Audubon international. Under the program we are striving to implement best management practices in environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, water quality management, and outreach and education. With the support from the Board of Directors, membership and my love of the environment I believe we can achieve this prestigious designation. As we move along through this you will see some changes on how we maintain the golf course as well as many initiatives that will only enhance our properties relationship with the natural environment. In time I will have a page on our website that documents all of our efforts and inform you in detail of the requirements. I'm very excited about the challenge and you can already see the benefits from just a few things that we have done like the added bird houses and turtle log in the pond on 15.

We have a lot of work to do to repair winter damage throughout the golf course as well finish off a couple of projects which will be our primary focus. Here is a list of what we will be working on in the immediate future.

1. Top soil and seed filled ditch on 4
2. Top soil and seed expanded area on 12
3. Finish shaping, fill with bunker sand and sod 11 fairway bunker
4. Top soil and sod drainage on 8 tee
5. Regrade and grass 13 fairway through a seeding renovation technique
6. Drainage and re grass rough close to green on 10
7. Drainage and re grass rough close to 12 green
8. Drainage between 10 & 12 greens

I'm excited about the season especially now that the weather is improving and in couple more weeks things should really be in good shape. Looking forward to seeing you all out on the course, play well!

Jay Sisko

Golf Course Superintendent